Inconsistent Manufacturing Strategy

Reasons for Inconsistent Manufacturing Structures:

1. Manufacturing has a new manufacturing task but continues the old manufacturing policies and structure.

2. Responsible people in manufacturing have no clear, consistent definition or understanding of the manufacturing task facing the organization.

3. The manufacturing policies and the infrastructure being employed are inconsistent. Taken together, there is a distortion in coordination.

4. The organization lacks a focus. It is attempting to cover too many technologies or too many products and markets, too wide a range volume, and more than one manufacturing task.

5. The organization has the wrong equipment &process technology for the present manufacturing task.

6. Selection of products and processes for each plant in a multi-plant setup results in mixing together, somewhat at random, a product organization, a process organization, and a volume-focused organization (or any two of the three) instead of focusing around one type of organization.

Secretes of Industrial Success

1.      Beware of complacency

2.      Continually enlist the help of employees to improve product and process

3.      Deny every inch to actual and potential competitors

4.      Study competitors' sources of success

5.      Don't be too rational

Stages of the strategic role of manufacturing in a company

1.      Internally neutral minimize the “negative effect” of manufacturing

2.      Externally neutral achieve parity with competitors

3.      Internally supportive provide support to the business strategy

4.      Externally supportive

  

Manufacturing strategy is integrated engineering, finance, procurement, marketing/sales 100% of people are knowledge workers

Ø  contribute more with minds than hands

Ø  understand the business & job

Ø  mastery of all quality tools

Ø  sought after by competitors

Ø  leadership, teamwork

Ø  continuous learning and teaching

Ø  culture of experimentation

Ø  desirable place to work

Ø  challenging, fulfilling careers

Characteristics

Process

-technology leader

-process devel & improv

-innovation in methods & equip

In-control & capable (cpk > 2)

Intelligent use of information technology

Value chain

Benchmark-driven

-world-class practices

-world-class measures

-reverse engineering

-info exchange with the best

Suppliers send their best people and parts

Test bed for technology innovators

Networked with customers

Sample manufacturing strategy text

Manufacturing vision

Manufacture world-class quality auto components in the prescribed volumes, on schedule, at the lowest cost

Manufacturing mission

Achieve world-class status (by the year 20xx) in quality cost, time, and flexibility with people who have a shared vision and objectives that are based on a culture of continuous process improvement

Performance metrics

                                                    Quality: product& process

                                                    Cost/productivity

                                                    Time

                                                    Flexibility

Bye,

Anil